South Georgia Times

There were 1,148 white students enrolled in Ben Hill County school in the 2022-23 school year, 0.4% more than the previous year, according to reports from the Georgia Department of Education.

Data showed that Ben Hill County welcomed 2,768 students during the 2022-23 school year. Among them, white students comprised 41.5% of the student body to be the second most represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the five schools in Ben Hill County, Fitzgerald High School recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2022-23 school year, with a total of 309 students.

While enrollment in Georgia inches closer to pre-pandemic levels, chronic absenteeism remains a serious challenge. In 2023, a significant portion of students (23%) missed 10% or more of their classes. Although this is slightly better than the peak of 25% in 2022, it's still nearly double the pre-pandemic rate of 13% recorded in 2019.

School name	% of White Students	Total White Students	Total enrollment
Ben Hill County Middle School	44%	303	689
Ben Hill County Primary School	44%	293	666
Ben Hill Elementary School	43%	231	538
Fitzgerald High School	37%	309	837
Hurricane Transition Academy	33%	12	38